Yamaji koso yuki no shitamizu tokezarame miyako no sora wa harumekinuran

山路こそ雪の下水解けざらめ
都の空は春めきぬらん

Roma-ji: Yamaji koso yuki no shitamizu tokezarame miyako no sora wa harumekinuran
English Translation: Here on the mountain path
the water beneath the snow
may not yet have thawed—
yet the sky above the capital
must already feel like spring.
Meaning: Here on the mountain path, the water under the snow has surely not yet thawed, but the sky over the capital must already be turning to spring.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1064

Headnote: "While I was living deep in the mountains, on hearing that spring had begun"
Living deep in the mountains, Saigyō heard that spring had begun and composed this. Here on the mountain path even the water beneath the snow has not yet thawed, but the sky over the capital must already be spring-like, he imagines, setting mountain against capital.
Placing himself in mountains where spring comes late while picturing spring in the capital, the poem reveals the recluse's lingering fondness for the city. In contrast to 1062, which thought of the mountains of Yoshino on the first day of spring, here the poet is in the mountains thinking of the capital.

First line, “yamaji koso”: koso is emphatic, answered by the realis in the third line, leading on concessively.
Second line, “yuki no shitamizu”: water running beneath the piled snow.
Third line, “tokezarame”: the realis closing the koso construction, "though it has not thawed."
Fourth line, “miyako no sora wa”: the sky of the capital, set against the mountain path.
Fifth line, “harumekinuran”: ran conjectures the present, "it must be growing spring-like."
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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